rwl@uvacs.UUCP (Ray Lubinsky) (02/21/86)
> Frankly, anyone who thinks NASA can live through this is pretty > optomistic, I think, because the committee is doing their level best > to ruin all of the people who have spent their life learning about > the shuttle, and who know how to make it work. I am both optomistic and realistic. The former side of me believes that solar system civilization is our new ``manifest destiny''. The latter side is certain that space defense/warfare capability (SDI) has become a focal point for our global military policy (both as a project in its own right and as an attempt to tax the Soviet economy to maintain its already burdensome military budget). There will be no reduction in our LEO activies. Also, you haven't mentioned here the fact that there are companies that intend to make *money* from space processing. Surely they're not going to stand by while the most efficient (American) human/cargo space delivery system around just gathers cobwebs. Whether you're pie-eyed or hard-nosed, the prospect of a single disaster turning the tide of American space involvement appears rather unlikely. Congressional committees or no. -- Ray Lubinsky University of Virginia, Dept. of Computer Science UUCP: decvax!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!rwl OR cbosgd!uvacs!rwl